Lunchtine read:Cat & Mouse

While the standoff between my two and half year old and myself continues over what exactly he did with the Salinger book I am half way through, it seemed wise to choose a different book for my lunchtime reading. Sticking with a war theme the lunchtime read this week is going to be by Gunter Grass, who for all the recent controversy about his involvement with the SS, is a writer that I have so far missed but would like to get acquainted with.

Bullet points between pages 1 – 28

* The narrator is describing a boy, Mahkle, who has such a prominent Adam’s apple that a cat mistakes it for a mouse who is slightly out of kilter with the rest of his friends choosing to wear a screwdriver round his neck

* Mahkle uses the screwdriver to dive down to a wrecked boat and prise off prizes that he brings up to the surface to show off to his gull dropping chewing friends

* The narrator is among those friends and is also witness to Mahkle stating to the rest of his class when asked by the teacher what he wants to become states that he is planning on becoming a clown

* He is different from most of the other children and even when he joins the Hitler youth he seems to be able to live a life of relative individualism coming and going when it suits

More tomorrow…